Destiny
by Joseph Bruce
Summary: After being at each others side for years, J.B. and Kaitlin fall in love.


Destiny

A VR Troopers fan fiction love story.

"Awww, man. My visor just went black." Ryan says tapping the side of his VR visor a few times. "It was working just fine a minute ago."

"Minor technical difficulties." The professor says. "J.B. would you do the honors."

"Uh, yea. Which computer is it again?"

"The small one over by the counter. Open up the computers panel and slowly pull out a section marked VRVCP759311."

J.B. walks over to the computer and begins to unscrew the panel. He takes the panel off and slides a small section out. He looks at the section with all the wires and holds it up..

"This one, right?" He asks the professor.

"Yes." The professor responds. "I need you to check the sequencer on it." J.B. takes the section in his hand and sits on a nearby counter. He begins tinkering with a few small switches.

"How long you think its gonna take?" Kaitlin asks J.B. sitting on a counter next to him. J.B. shrugs.

"Probably only a few minutes Kaitlin." The professor replies. "If you could check the computers integrity level, I would appreciate it." She gets back up and walks over to the main viewing screen where Professor Hart's image appears.

"It says that the Integrity Level is at 90% now, professor." She says looking at another computer screen. "Now it says 100% Integrity."

"That should do it then, JB." Professor Hart says. "You can replace the panel now."

As J.B. retrieves the screwdriver he looks up at Kaitlin. Kneeling over the computer, he takes his time screwing the panel back into place, glimpsing at Kaitlin's legs. His eyes move up to her firm looking bottom. He stares at her a while longer, then turns away before either her or the professor can take notice. A couple of days before he and Kaitlin had an awkward moment at Tao's Dojo practicing their locks, reversals, and a little wresting. Some how they both ended up rolling around on the ground, with her on top of him and his hands on her hips. For a brief moment their eyes had met. Tao's eyes bulged we he saw them. He had to pull the two away from one another. None of the students had noticed. J.B. wasn't even sure what had just happened. He had never thought of Kaitlin in that way before. But now...Now things were different.

"How's that, Ryan?" The professor asks the talented young martial arts instructor as he puts the VR visors back on.

"Great, professor." He says giving the professor a thumbs up. "Everything looks normal again. Good work J.B.." J.B. smiles and jokingly pats himself on the back.

After foiling another one of Grimlord's plans the day before, the Troopers are looking forward to a rather uneventful weekend. Ryan and J.B. initially had plans to go fishing, but J.B. seems to have changed his mind at the last moment. Kaitlin has plans to redecorate her bedroom, that is, if nothing else more important comes up.

Kaitlin opens the car door for J.B. He gets in and closes the car door behind him, placing his backpack in between his legs. Has she always worn perfume? J.B. thinks to himself as Kaitlin turns the car ignition. The two of them are relatively quiet for most of the ride, so she decides to turn the radio on. After a few lame songs, one of her favorites, "Careless Whisper" by Wham, begins to play. Both of them share a passion for 80's music. Part way through the song, J.B. turns to face her.

"Kaitlin." He says softly.

"Yes, J.B.?" She asks. Her heart flutters. Just as he is about to respond, the professors voice comes in over the radio. The radio flips around revealing a small view screen with a drop down panel.

"Troopers. I'm detecting a break in the reality barrier." Professor Hart says as his image appears on the small computer screen. "Some where in Vector V19."

"V19? That's not too far from where Ryan lives" J.B. says tapping on the computer keyboard, magnifying a computerized map image of the area.

"It appears that he was ambushed by a mutant named MazeBot." The Professor explains. "Beware of MazeBot's powers. With one blast from a special symbol on his chest he can transport a person into another dimension."

"We're on it professor." Kaitlin says, turning the car around and accelerating. Just as she considers taking the modified vehicle to the skies to get to Vector V19 a little faster, she spots a police road block a short distance up the road. She slows the vehicle to a halt.

"Going a little fast, weren't we?" One of the officers asks her. Another one walks over to J.B.'s side of the car.

"Yea." The other officer says looking inside the car. "Why don't you two step out of the vehicle."

"You've got to kidding me." J.B. says lowering his head and nodding. He opens the door and angrily steps out. Kaitlin follows.

"We don't have time for this Kaitlin. Ryan's in trouble."

"Oh, you'll make time for this." One of the police officers laughs. The two officers turn and look at each other, then, in a blinding flash of light, they turn into skugs. In a split second the two skugs multiply into six.

"Skugs!" Kaitlin screams. "I should have known!"

"Uhhh." Ryan moans as he stares up at the ceiling of what appears to be some type of stone corridor. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was some bizarre mutant standing in the middle of the road and blasting him with some type of beam of light. With great effort he makes it to his feet. He takes a look around to find that he is surrounded by numerous stone walls. An occasional break in each wall, leads to down another path. Each new path seems to be blocked by another wall, or contain the entrance to another path.

"Great." He sighs. "Just what I needed. A maze." Not being able to communicate with Professor Hart or the other troopers, he transforms into his virtual form. There's no telling what lies beyond these walls. He thinks. Nevertheless, I can't stay here forever. Begrudgingly, he advances through the maze.

With their comrades life in danger, Kaitlin and J.B. make quick work of the skugs, pushing and knocking them into one another, they defeat the creatures in seconds flat. They jump back into the car and are airborne in less than a minute. In short time they are over Vector V19. Kaitlin lands the vehicle after they spot what appears to be Ryan's motorcycle on the side of the road. They call his name a few times searching around for him in vain.

"Looking for someone?" MazeBot says, stepping out from behind a group large boulders. He fires off his maze beam but misses. Kaitlin and J.B. take cover behind a cropping of trees.

"That was a close one!" J.B. says grabbing the virtualizer around his neck. "You ready?" He asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Kaitlin responds. "Trooper transform! We are VR!"

MazeBot attempts to quietly sneak around to the area where the two VR Troopers had just run, and at the same time recharge his maze beam. The two troopers spring forth from the trees and attack him in unison. He manages to fight both of them off for a while, but in a short time the two begin to get the best of him. J.B. draws his Laser Lance in order to finish off MazeBot quickly. MazeBot feigns falling to the ground and just as J.B. approaches him, he rolls over and blasts him with his maze beam. In a flash of yellowish green light, J.B. disappears.

"J.B.!" Kaitlin yells. "Nooooo!"

Ryan tries using his powers to punch and kick a hole in the walls, but nothing seems to work. He even tries his Lightning Hand ability to no avail.

"Damn it!" he yells. "I'll never get out of here!"

"Ryan is that you?" Comes what sounds like a familiar voice.

"Hello?" Ryan responds.

"Ryan! Its me! J.B.!"

"J.B.? Aww, no. Don't tell me that mutant got you too?"

"Yea! Where are you? I can hear you, but I can't see you!"

"Its sounds like you might be just beyond this wall! If we can meet up maybe we can find a way out of here!"

"From what I understand, Ryan, the only way for us to get out of this maze is for Kaitlin to defeat MazeBot!"

"Kaitlin." Ryan sighs. "It's all up to you now."

With her two companions gone, Kaitlin stands alone to face MazeBot. The professor comes over her communications system and tells her that MazeBot requires a few minutes to recharge his maze beam and that she must strike him now, before he can recover. MazeBot scuttles around her and actually seems to be trying to avoid her, at least until his beam recharges. She fires her laser pistol at him a few times but he takes off running, moving from side to side as he goes.

"Oh no you don't!" She yells chasing him down. "Come here!" Despite his size, MazeBot is a rather fast sprinter. Never the less, Kaitlin is faster. As she approaches him from behind, her senses tell her that he is probably about to turn and shoot his maze beam at her. Her senses were right. MazeBot stops and quickly turns to blast the young Trooper, but is hit in the face by both of Kaitlin's feet. After the flying drop kick, MazeBot is knocked back a few feet and sent crashing to the ground. He recovers and stands to his feet only to be kicked and punched a few more times. This time he lands about twenty feet away on his back. With his maze beam fully charged, and the last bit of energy in him, MazeBot sits up in a final desperate attempt to blast Kaitlin. The two of them fire simultaneously. Mazebot with his maze beam and Kaitlin with her laser pistol. Just as his maze beam is about to hit Kaitlin, MazeBot is destroyed by her laser fire. Just as his metallic body explodes, Ryan and JB appear next to her.

After healing their wounds and giving the professor a debriefing, the team calls it a day. Ryan takes off again on his motorcycle, while Kaitlin gives J.B. a ride home. Just as the last time, the two are relatively quiet for most of the ride.

"Thanks again for saving my skin back there." JB finally says, breaking the silence as they near his apartment building.

"You helped me out enough times, J.B. I'm just glad I can repay you every now and then."

"I mean." He clears his throat. "Can I buy you lunch or something?"

"Lunch?" She laughs nodding her head in disbelief. His heart stops beating. "How about dinner?" she asks.

His heart smiles and beats again with new vigor.

"Where do you wanna go?" he asks her as she pulls up in front of his apartment building.

"How about your place? We can have it delivered."

"Is Thai food alright with you? he asks.

"I'm in the mood for Italian. Have you ever been to Satriale's?"

"My favorite. You don't have to work on Saturdays do you?"

"No. I can come over tomorrow."

"How about Nine O'clock? That's not past your bedtime is it?" He opens the car door and steps out."

"I'll see you tomorrow at nine." She smiles. He closes the door and starts to walk off.

Standing in front of a full length mirror, Kaitlin dons a new black dress that she had bought a couple of months ago for just such an occasion. That was when she first realized that she was attracted to J.B. She stops for a moment to think about last years Halloween party and how some girl had asked him to dance. She remembered feeling a little jealous, but couldn't understand why. She wanted to dance with him and actually thought about cutting in, after all, she was dressed as Cat Woman, and he was dressed as Batman, but she decided not to intervene. Her feelings for JB had changed that day. Since then she slowly began to fall in love with him. A few days after the party they were working out in the weight room at Tao's Dojo. She was running on an inclined treadmill, while J.B. was lifting a couple of dumb bells. All of a sudden it was like she just noticed that he had muscles! She slowed down on the treadmill and almost flew off of it staring at him. Then later on, before he walked out, he smacked her on the butt with his towel and said "I'm going to hit the showers." And what happened at Tao's a couple of days ago when they were wrestling around only confirmed it. She was in love, and she hoped that JB felt the same way she did. As she pins her hair up, she thinks about how fate had always seemed to pair them together. Now something within seemed to be drawing them even closer. She looks at herself in the mirror, running her hands along the backside of the sleek black dress. Apparently all the exercise and hard work were paying off.

"Cinderella." She smiles "You shall go to the ball."

J.B. watches as Kaitlin's small red car pulls into the parking lot. He runs over to a small table in the living room and lights a couple of cherry scented candles. He dims the lights and runs back over to look out the window, watching her as she steps out of the car. She looks absolutely gorgeous, and after a few minutes she is up the elevator and knocking on his door.

"Hey." He smiles nervously ushering her in.

"Hey."

"You look really nice." He says as she walks over to the sofa. She smirks.

"I hope you like Kung Fu movies." He says pressing play on the VCR.

"I absolutely love Kung Fu movies."

"Good. This is an old one, but it is sooo cool."

"Did you order the food yet?" She asks. There is a knock at the door.

"Perfect timing."

After the movie, a little Italian food, and a nice glass of red wine, Kaitlin takes her heels off and reclines back on the sofa.

"Good food, huh?" J.B. asks her as he stands up to stop and rewind the movie.

"Yea." She responds as the tape begins to rewind.

JB walks over to a decent sized stereo system and puts in a CD. The "Purple Rain" album by Prince and the Revolution.

"You want some more wine?" he asks walking back over to the table to pour himself another glass. She nods in agreement but doesn't take her eyes off of him. He refills their glasses, but when he turns around she is standing next to him. She gently takes both glasses of wine from his hands and sets them on the table.

"I think you owe me a dance." She says placing her hands on his shoulders. He smiles and positions his hands on her hips. The two begin to sway to the slow, nearly hypnotic rhythm. She lays her head on his chest just as it begins to rain outside. After a couple of minutes, lightning flashes in the night sky. They stop dancing. She stares up at him. Wanting. Longing. He runs his hand across her cheek and stares into her soft brown eyes. At long last, the two embrace in a deep, passionate kiss.


End file.
